Our live coverage of Trump’s UN General Assembly speech has ended. Scroll through the posts below to see how his morning played out.
President Trump acknowledged his changed tone on North Korea during remarks at a UN luncheon on Wednesday.
He said he was expecting progress in his dealings with Kim Jong Un, but acknowledged: “As the expression goes, who knows.”
During his address to the UN last year, Trump called Kim “Rocket Man” and warned warned the US would “totally destroy North Korea” if forced to defend itself or its allies
But this year, he said North Korea has taken “encouraging measures” following his summer summit with Kim. He even thanked the North Korean leader for the country’s progress.
President Trump said the US would be announcing sanctions targeting Venezuela today and appealed to other nations to call for the “restoration of democracy” in the South American country.
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President Trump said the US is “taking a hard look” at the foreign aid it sends to other countries and the financial support it provides to international organizations.
Promising to make the UN “more effective and accountable,” Trump also vowed to change how the US funds the international body’s various programs and where US dollars are spent.
“Only when each of us does our part and contributes our share can we realize the UN’s highest aspirations,” Trump said.
President Trump, claiming the U.N. Human Rights Council had become “a grave embarrassment to this institution,” said the US would not return to it without real reform and would provide neither support nor recognition to the International Criminal Court for similar reasons.
He added, “We will never surrender America’s sovereignty to an unelected, unaccountable, global bureaucracy.”
Those comments, Human Rights Watch just said in a statement to CNN’s Richard Roth, “are music to the ears of tyrants and war criminals.”
“His opposition to justice for victims of mass slaughter is yet another retreat by this administration on human rights. But this attack on international justice will backfire, just as it did under the Bush administration,” Richard Dicker, director of Human Rights Watch’s international justice program, said.
See it:
In a play on his campaign slogan, President Trump said on Tuesday that a global migration crisis can be resolved by making every country “great again.”
He said the US would not sign onto a global migration pact, saying individual nations should instead set their own policies.
He said the US would “recognize right of every nation in this room to set own policy.”
The only way to prevent people from leaving their nations is to “make their countries great again.”
Watch Trump talk about immigration at the UN:
President Trump told world leaders on Tuesday “we are systematically renegotiating broken and bad trade deals.”
Citing his bids to renegotiate trade deals around the world, Trump said during an address at the United Nations that “many nations in this hall will agree the world trading system is in dire need of change.”
Singling out China for its trade abuses and theft of US intellectual property, Trump said “we will no longer tolerate such abuse.”
“We will not allow our workers to be victimized, our companies to be cheated,” Trump said.
Stressing he still has “great respect and affection” for Chinese President Xi Jinping, Trump said “America will always act in our national interests.”
Watch:
President Donald Trump on Tuesday castigated Iran for sowing “chaos, death and destruction” in the Middle East and urged other countries to join the US in resuming economic pressure on the Iran.
The US President trumpeted his decision to withdraw from the Iranian nuclear deal, calling it “horrible,” and noted that “many countries in the Middle East strongly supported” his decision.
“Iran’s leaders sow chaos, death and destruction they do not respect their neighbors borders or the sovereign rights of nations,” Trump said.
He added:
Trump said the US has launched “a campaign of economic pressure to deny the regime the funds that it needs to advance its bloody agenda.”
He said additional sanctions will resume in the coming months and said the world must ensure that “the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism to possess the world’s most dangerous weapons.”
He vowed to continue to support “Iran’s people.”
Watch:
President Trump on Tuesday stressed sovereignty as he began his United Nations speech.
He continued: “That is why America will always choose independence and cooperation over global governments, control and domination. I honor the right of every nation in this room to pursue its own customs, beliefs, and traditions. The United States will not tell you how to live or work or worship. We only ask that you honor our sovereignty in return.”
Later, he added that “America is governed by Americans” and rejects “the ideology of globalism.”
Expect this theme to continue throughout his remarks. The administration has recently made several moves to put this effort on display, including most recently a decision to cut funding for the UN agency that supports Palestinian refugees and a speech by his national security adviser John Bolton undercutting the International Criminal Court.
President Trump, speaking at the UN General Assembly, said North Korea has taken “encouraging measures” following the summer summit between Trump and Kim Jong Un.
At the meeting, North Korea and the US “agreed that it was in both countries’ interest to pursue the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.”
Trump thanked Kim for the steps his country has taken, as well as others who helped them get there.
“I also want to thank the many member states who helped us reach this moment. A moment that is actually far greater than people would understand. Far greater,” Trump said.
This rhetoric is a stark contrast to last year’s UN meeting, where President Trump called Kim “Rocket Man.”
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There was a moment of levity at the top of President Donald Trump’s United Nations speech, when some in the crowd chuckled as Trump touted his administration’s successes.
Trump began his address at the United Nations this morning by boasting, “In less than two years, my administration has accomplished more than almost any administration in the history of our country.”
There was some muted laughter.
“So true,” Trump said. “I didn’t expect that reaction, but that’s okay,” he said, prompting louder laughter and some applause.
President Trump quickly addressed reporters on his way into the United Nations where he claimed he’s made “tremendous progress” with North Korea – “far greater than the media would understand or know” – and yet offering little on any movement towards denuclearization.
“As you know,” Trump said, “there have been no tests, no nuclear tests, no rockets, no missile launches. And we got our hostages back. We’re getting the remains of our great heroes back. That’s already started, that process, and many more are coming in the very short future. So we’re doing very well with North Korea. Again, far greater than anybody would know.”
President Trump just arrived at the United Nations in New York and approached the press to preview his remarks on a few topics. Here’s what he said on Iran:
“Iran has to change its tune before I meet with them. They want to meet. I’m not meeting with them until they change their tune. It will happen. I believe they have no choice. We look forward to having a great relationship with Iran. But it won’t happen now.”
Earlier on Tuesday President Trump tweeted that “despite requests,” he has no plans to meet with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani. “Maybe someday in the future. I am sure he is an absolutely lovely man!” he added.
But earlier, in an interview with CNN’s Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour, Rouhani denied making any such request.
“Not this year, nor last year. We have never made such a request for a meeting with the President of the United States,” Rouhani said. He added, “Under the current conditions, when it comes to a meeting, I do not see it as beneficial nor appropriate. But you should ask him who made such requests.”
President Trump will emphasize US commitment to its sovereignty above all international organizations and multilateral agreements on the heels of several moves that have put that effort on display, including most recently a decision to cut funding for the UN agency that supports Palestinian refugees and a speech by his national security adviser John Bolton undercutting the International Criminal Court.
John Bolton’s influence: Bolston, a longtime and fiercely ideological critic of the UN and the former US ambassador to the body, is certain to leave his imprint on Tuesday through Trump’s speech.
Speaking ahead of the address on Monday, Bolton said:
Addressing the sovereignty theme, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo also said Monday Trump will deliver “a recap about [how] his call for every nation to do its part has paid dividends for the United States and the world over this past year.”
And Nikki Haley, the UN ambassador, has also said Trump will “lay down a marker” on foreign aid, remaining generous, but only “to those that share our values … that want to work with us.”
Trump embarks upon another “America First” crusade at the world’s foremost diplomatic institution this week.
But while Trump in New York, there are several key political events unfolding back in Washington, DC…
In his first speech before the United Nations, President Donald Trump stood before the hall’s iconic green marble wall and deployed for the first time in person his infamous moniker aimed at North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un.
“Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime,” Trump declared as he warned that the United States was prepared to “totally destroy North Korea.”
A year later, as he prepares to deliver his second UN speech on Tuesday, the US President has almost entirely abandoned his fiery rhetoric in favor of trumpeting his personal diplomatic efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis. He has retired the “Rocket Man” moniker — and its “Little Rocket Man” variation — since last winter and has even promised to deliver a CD with the eponymous Elton John song to Kim.
That the cutting insult has achieved inside joke status between the two leaders exemplifies the extent of the diplomatic détente between the US and North Korea in the year since Trump delivered those jarring threats at the UN and its lightning-fast pace. In that span of time, Trump and Kim turned from exchanging a menacing volley of insults and threats of annihilation to…
Watch some of Trump’s 2017 speech in the video below:
President Trump’s UN speech will start around 10:15 a.m. ET. It will probably last around 40 minutes. Here are the key themes to watch for:
